Dental tape or floss.



P. Z. HANSCOM. DENTAL TAPE 0R FLOSS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 3, 1911.

1,069,874, Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

'rn s'rn'rns DENTAL TAPE OB FLOSS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12,1913.4

Application led April 3, 1911. Serial No. 618,568.

obtained by making the tape or floss small at.

certain points anddwider or larger at other points; to provide a dentalfloss or tape of such form with dentifrice either of an antiseptic orabrasive character or of both antiseptic and abrasive character, orhaving such other qualities as may be desirable in suitable dentifriceor cleaning material; in some instances, to provide a dental tape orfloss having reduced waxed portions and enlarged intermediate portionshaving a suitable dentifrice incorporated therein; and to provide suchother advantages as will appear from the following description of myinvention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a side view of o-ne form of myimproved tape or floss made in a substantially flat form; Fig. 2 shows amodified form which is substantially circular in cross-section; Fig. 3is a sketch showing the method of using my improved tape.

As shown in Fig. 1, 6 indicates an improved form o-f tape made inaccordance with my invention, this tape having narrow sections 7 andwidened flat sections 8. The narrow sections 7, for instance asindicated between the points a and b, are preferably treated withparain, or other suitable wax-like material, to assist the passage ofthese sections through the narrow contact point between the teeth. Theintermediate dat, wider sections 8 are impregnated wholly or in partwith any suitable dentifrice, which dentifrice I prefer to be of anantiseptic or abrasive or both antiseptic and abrasive character. Thefloss acts as a carrying medium for the dentifrice, the latterpreferably consisting of a powder which acts as a carrier for somesuitable antiseptic. All of such wider sections may be impregnated ortreated with the same kind of dentifrice, or alternating sections may betreatf ed or impregnated with different kinds; or,

if desired, part of the sections may be treated with dentifrice andother sections left without any.

The form of my improved tape or floss shown in Fig. 2 differs from thatshown in Fig. 1 in being made substantially round, that is, of circularcross-section. In this instance, the enlarged portions 9 are sepa ratedby intermediate, comparatively small thread-like portions 10, suchintermediate portions being preferably waxed, while the enlargedportions are treated with suitable dentifrice as above described. In allcases, I prefer to have the material of which the tape or floss may beformed, thoroughly impregnated with the dentifrice, so that where anabrasive dentifrice is used, the particles will be thoroughly embeddedor pressed into the. material. In order to accomplish this, thedentifrice may be applied while the tape is being made, or may bethoroughly pressed or worked into the tape after the same has beenformed.

My improved tape or floss may be made in long, continuo-us strips androlled or otherwise arranged for convenience in handling, or may be madein short sections, as desired.

From the above description, itv will be readily seen that I haveprovided a tape of such form that it may be readily inserted between theteeth, and then by drawing the tape along until an enlarged or widenedportion is brought into proper position for engagement with the tooth,the tooth may be readily and quickly cleaned by drawing such widenedport-ion backward and forward over the surface thereof. For instance, asindicated in Fig. 5, the narrow or reduced portion of the tape has beenpassed down past the contact point between the teeth, and then thewidened or enlarged portion brought into engagement with the lowersurface of the tooth, and as Such widened portion is drawn back andforth, it will readily clean such surface. Then, after one tooth hasbeen cleaned, the tape may be swung over so that the opposite sideengages with the other' tooth, thereby both opposed surfaces between theteeth may be quickly cleaned. Thereduced portions of the tape may bemade somewhat weaker than the widened portions, if desired, so that theuser may break off any desired length of tape by breaking it at one ofsuch points. It will also be noted that where the teeth come in actualcontact so that it l 1s Impossible to pa'ss a thread or tape downbetween the same, this reduced ortlon may "be formed into a somewhatneed e-like point,

as indicated at 14, Fig. 5, andthis pointmay then be inserted 'betweenthe teeth, below the' contactpoint, and the tape drawn thrugli intocleaning position.

It will be seen that my improved invention provides a tape which is soformed that it may be readily inserted between the teeth and which hassutliciently large cleaning portions so that it will not require anyspecial skill to use the same but may be used by the average person, andby providing the tape with suitable dentifrice its use will greatlyassist in cleaning and preserving the teeth. This tape may be made invarious sizes and forms suitable for teeth of different kinds, theprincipal objects being to arrange the same so that it may be readilyinserted between the teeth; and to provide substantial cleaning portionswhich may be used without danger of injury to the gums. Therefore, I donot wish to limit myself to any particular size or to the exact formshown herein, except as set forth in the appended claims, in which- Iclaim:

1. A tape or floss for the purposes set set forth, having enlargedcleaning sections and smaller intermediate sections.

2. A flat tape for dental purposes, said tape having relatively widecleaning portions and narrow intermediate portions.

3. A dental tape or' floss havig enlarged cleaning portions impregnatedwith dentifrice and having reduced waxed or parafined intermediateportions.

FRANK Z. HANSCOM.

Witnesses:

ROBERT B. THORNE, A. Wy. FENSTEMAKER.

